Tenth Anniversary of John Yoo/Alberto Gonzales Torture Memos

I’ve got to confess… when I connected to World Can’t Wait in 2006, some prisoners at Guantanamo had been tortured for four years. I had other things on my mind and, probably more important, people to blame for the crimes of our government.

The blame game was easy, and disguised responsibility for the evil being done in my name. But it didn’t close Guantanamo. Or release survivors of that hellhole.

The clock is ticking. August 1st marks the 10th anniversary of the adoption of professor John Yoo’s “Torture Memos,” which sanctioned mental and physical torment and coercion practiced by the state. It’s been 9 years since those same documents were found legally defective and withdrawn. The Bush Gang left the stage, Barack Obama took the helm, and 168 prisoners remain at Guantanamo, with several thousand more left in Bagram, Afghanistan.

Memo from Jay Bybee to Alberto GonzalesDATE: August 1, 2002SUBJECT: "Standards for Conduct for Interrogation under 18 U.S.C. 2340 - 2340A" AUTHOR: Jay Bybee, Assistant Attorney General, Office of Legal Counsel In what has become notorious as the "torture memo," Jay Bybee signs off on an opinion authored by John Yoo. The memorandum systematically dismisses numerous U.S. federal laws, treaties and international law prohibiting the use of torture, essentially defining the term out of existence.

Letter from John Yoo to Alberto GonzalesDATE: August 1, 2002SUBJECT: N/AAUTHOR: John Yoo, Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Office of Legal Counsel John Yoo writes to White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales warning of potential threats of international prosecution regarding the administration's interrogation policies. Yoo notes that "Interrogations of al Qaeda members ... cannot constitute a war crime" because of the Presidential determination that Geneva's protections do not apply.

Memo from Jay Bybee to the CIADATE: August 1, 2002SUBJECT: Memorandum for [REDACTED] Interrogation of [REDACTED] AUTHOR: Jay Bybee, Assistant Attorney General, Office of Legal Counsel Written by the Office of Legal Counsel's Jay Bybee and sent to the Central Intelligence Agency, this heavily redacted document was released to the ACLU in 2008. It details "advising the CIA regarding interrogation methods it may use against al Qaeda members," and in one un-redacted portion, argues that "to violate the statute, an individual must have the specific intent to inflict severe pain or suffering. Based on the information you have provided us, we believe those carrying out these procedures would not have the specific intent to inflict severe pain or suffering."

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